The present invention relates to a suction device for an endoscope which is used to remove mucus or undesired matter from a body cavity to be examined.
It is difficult to adequately observe a region of a body cavity to be examined with an endoscope if the region is covered with mucus or other undesired matter. The lens window at the top of the endoscope inserted into the body cavity often tends to collect moisture making it necessary to deliver cleaning water to the lens window to clean the window. It is necessary to suck away and remove the mucus or cleaning water as required.
For this purpose, heretofore endoscopes have been provided with a forceps insertion pipe with which mucus is removed by a suction pipe which branches at the manual operation unit of the endoscope from the forceps insertion pipe. More specifically, to operate such a device the operator's finger is placed over an opening which protrudes from the suction pipe operating unit body to prevent external air from flowing into the suction pipe. At this time, the pressure in the suction pipe is decreased by a suction pump coupled to the suction pipe thereby to suck and remove the mucus or the like through the forceps insertion pipe from the body cavity.
However, this technique is disadvantageous in the following points. The liquid removed by the conventional endoscope may stick directly to the operator's finger which was used to close the protruding opening of the suction pipe. A finger thus contaminated may touch the operation unit of the endoscope or bioptic instruments such as the forceps used in observing the desired region of the body cavity, other medical instruments, an endoscope camera, or peripheral equipment as a result of which bacteria may be dispersed. Especially for the examination of a patient with an infectious disease, it is impossible to maintain the sterile condition of all the equipment touched by the finger and accordingly the surrounding equipment becomes contaminated by bacteria.
During a suction operation with the operator's finger closing the aforementioned opening, the liquid to be removed is being moved at a high speed by strong suction pressure from the end portion of the endoscope. When the finger is removed from the opening of the suction pipe to suspend the suction operation, the sucked liquid tends to splash through the outlet of the forceps receiver or the end of the suction pipe over the operation unit of the endoscope. This is considerably unsanitary.
Furthermore, the suction operation control unit has a necessarily intricate configuration and therefore it is difficult to clean the inner wall of the suction pipe and the operation unit of the removed liquid. In addition, the suction operation is carried out through cylindrical members which telescope and the junctions between the cylindrical members tend to hold waste matter.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a suction device for an endoscope in which the arrangement of a suction operation unit is such that the need for directly closing the suction pipe with a finger is eliminated and cleaning and sterilizing can be readily achieved.